Bethlehem's emergency radio system out during Dunkin' Donuts crash, official says

View full sizeExpress-Times File PhotoBethlehem police Capt. David Kravatz said there were no gaps or delays in emergency responses during the roughly one hour outage.

For a little over an hour Wednesday afternoon, Bethlehem police, emergency crews and public works employees were left in silence when the city’s radio system abruptly cut out, according to police Capt. David Kravatz.

The police captain said an alert sent to crews about the radio malfunction ensured that everyone was watching for messages from the 911 center and were ready for the Dunkin' Donuts crash call. First responders remained able to receive messages on car-based and other computers.

Kravatz said there was no delay in police and EMS response.

“There was no gap in service. No one lost their cool and everyone stayed calm,” he said of dispatchers and responders alike.

Kravatz said the radio cut out around noon and was restored by about 1:15 p.m. Power and electrical crews went to work fast to fix the problem, he said, but the precise cause of the outage remained a mystery Thursday.

“It’s all being looked at to make a determination about what happened,” Kravatz said.

He said officials hope to fully understand what went wrong by next week.

The Bethlehem 911 center, which is slated to undergo a $1.8 million equipment upgrade, was not affected by the outage, Kravatz said.

“The public wasn’t affected,” he said. “Thank God, it was very quiet for us, aside from the Stefko crash. The radio is such a life line to all of us.”

Police, fire and other crews who used the city’s radio system received an “out of range” message on their equipment during the outage, which was accompanied by distinct beeps that Kravatz said would draw their attention and indicate something was amiss. A message sent by the dispatch center told everyone to pay attention to their consoles and computers for updates on emergency calls, he said.

“We didn’t miss a call,” Kravatz said.

The safety of emergency officials, particularly police officers and firefighters, is among the most pressing concerns when communication systems malfunction, according to the police captain. He said that while crews can learn about incoming calls through a computer system, they cannot readily call for backup or assistance at the scene of an emergency.

“Our first concern is the safety of our officers,” Kravatz said. “When the radio came back up that was the first action we took: a roll call of our officers.”

City Councilman Robert Donchez, who chairs the Bethlehem Public Safety Committee, said he'll request a follow-up report about what happened at the next committee meeting in July, if not sooner. Donchez said he had not yet been notified of the outage.

"We'll want to make sure this doesn't happen again," Donchez said. "I hope it was just a glitch."